Spanish MoD to Evaluate USOL ALCOTAN

usol-alcotanUnder the RAPAZ Programme, the Spanish Ministry of Defence has signed a service contract with Spanish UAV manufacturer Unmanned Solutions (USOL) to assess operational capacities of USOL system ALCOTAN, a 3.5 kg fixed-wing UAV providing up to 1-hour autonomy and monitoring capabilities in visible and thermal spectrum.

The contract includes provision of 2 ALCOTAN systems, formed each of them by 2 flight platforms, 2 visible cameras, 1 IR thermal camera and a ground control station, and covers different operational flight campaigns and training courses in ALCOTAN capacities for operators from Spanish Army and Navy.

ALCOTAN is a Raven-type UAV, modular and light, which offers simple and quick deployment based on hand launch and belly landing capacities. Its operational range is up to 15 km providing a very cost-effective tool for the so called over-the-hill missions and other eye-in-the sky applications for low range distances both in defence and civil sectors(infrastructures monitoring and maintenance, border control, etc).

The RAPAZ Programme is being ran under Spanish MoD by DGAM, the General Directorate for Armament and Equipment, which did a first positive evaluation of the system last May during Ronda 101, a 24-hour marathon race promoted by the Spanish Legion around the town of Ronda (Málaga), in which ALCOTAN did aerial monitoring for different parts of the race, including day and night.

ALCOTAN was operated by USOL personnel and provided support for race organization enhancing race safety by displaying in real time runners’ positioning. ALCOTAN systems will be delivered in October to the selected units of MoD.

Source: Press Release

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